Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-06-09

y
tangent. She is pretty, confoundly
pretty. How long have you known
her?"
"Only for few months. She is reser-
we'd and good, and worthy the honest
love of any man."
$50 it, Fred, my boy! say, though, if
yox keep on you will end by speaking
blank verse. By the way though, what a
splendid title and subject for picture
'The Organ Grinders Child; or, the
Artists Infatuation."
"Laugh on my critic! and yet [ still
dare to affirm that the girl is honest and
good"
Intact Graziella merited all that the
artist could say in her defense. At the
age of 15 she had left her native country
the suberb coast of Sorrento, to emigrate
with band of Neapolitans,, and a few
weeks later had disembarked with mis-
celaneOus assortment of good and evil at
Castle Garden.
Having neither father nor mother, Ora
ziella had brought with her no other SOU
venir than the memory of her native vii
lage and her young lazzarone lover, who
passed his days in sleeping under the
vines by the sea, often having no other
breakfast than the warm rays of sunlight
that penetrate every nook and corner of
that favored land.
Upon the arrival of Grazielle and her
Neapolitan friends in New York the band
became scattered, though large number
settled in the neighborhood of Marion
and Crosby streets, while Graziella found
home for herself with an old country
woman of hers in dreary house devoid
of sunshine and all other comforts, ex-
cept that of the protection and good will
of the old woman,
The girls only pleasure was to sally
forth at daybreak, and after a long walk
to wander about Castle Garden, which be-
came her habitual promenade; so that
one might have supposed that the bright
little figure bloomed there like the other
flowers.
After the fashion Of many of her coun-
women she retained the national cos
tune which consisted of a green petit
coat short enough to reveal her tidy shoes
and stockings, dark velvet bodice, the
never failing striped apron, and the
whitehead covering that set off to advan-
tage the glossiness of her apparel
amounted almost to daintiness.
AS an exception to her race, her com,
plexion was pink and white, in strong
contrast to the usual dark olive hue of
the ordinary Neapolitan. Her complex
ion was not only fine, but her features
we've of the utmost regularity. Coral
lips, tiny mouth, and large tender eyes,
shaded by long lashes, arrested the atten-
ton of the passerby; and not unfrequent-
ly poor Graziella was frightened by the
undisguised admiration of the unknown
a4o1 % %lo l.
day afternoons
If by chance she was accOsted by some
unknown person, she quietly betOok her
self to another part of the park, to dream
in peace in the beautiful October sun
light in New York.
These hours of dole far niente became
less and less frequent, however; for Ora
ziella, like her compatriots, was obliged
TO earn her daily broad, which she had
also to share with the old woman to whom
she owed shelter.
To provide for her wants this girl had
two resources; namely, TO pose as model
for ARTISTS during the morning, and in
the afternoon turn the handle of small
organ in the most frequented streets.
She had been initiated into the pro-
fcssion of model by Frederic Holt, who
had seen her one day turning the hand
organ opposite the window of Martinelli's
restaurant, where he was dining. Her
natural beauty and simple grace at once
attracted his trained eye, that was ever
on the alert for the picturesque and beau
tiful. Soon the girl became favorite in
the studios, where, by posing three or
four hours daily, she was eventually en-
abled to hire a more cheerful room for
herself and the old woman, whom she
would not abandon in the days of her
comparative pros perity.
notwithstanding her seeming content
ment, sigh would sometimes escape
from the little Graziella's Hps-the mute
expression of a longing desire to see
her lover, Salvatore, who was so far away.
Her only amusement in the evening was
to count up the little earnings of the day,
over and above the modest needs of the
small household. An old wooden stocking
was the receptacle of these coins, and a
dilapidated chest the saftey deposit vault
of the stocking.
"And when shall I have five hundred
dollars, I wonder?" Graziella would re-
peat to herself with weary, yearning tier
alton.
Five hundred dollars!
That was the sum the young girl had
fixed on to carry back with her to Sorrento.
1T was to be the dowry she had set her
heart en-her marriage-bas&et the day
that she should become the legitimate
wife of worthy Salvatore, who in the mean
time was patiently idling away his time
and awaiting his bride, sleeping under
the orange trees like dormouse4
Alas! it would take a long time vet to
collect five hundred dollars; many pic
lures must be posed for before the magic
sum would be complete.
Frederic Holt felt tender sentiment
for his little model-a sentiment whose
full meaning he perhaps did not interpret
even to himself. He felt happy when she
was in his studio, aud loved TO hear the
sound of her pleasant little voice and note
the changeful expression in her bright,
dazzling eyes. She was only model; yet
he had never dreamed of paining her
little heart with an evil action. The idea
of marriage " it'll her was ridiculous; and
yet how dark his studio seemed to grow
when she left it!-what sunshine she
brought with her, and what lonely life
was his!
The day following that Of the reception
at the studio, Graziella, reappeared &C.
,nr5;,rr 70 har The Ionr